The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

Categories: Europe | History

These photos are 80 years old this year. They were taken by LIFE magazine photographer William Vandiver during his business trip to the pre-war French capital. The people in the pictures do not suspect that this is the last peaceful summer of Paris and very soon their lives will turn upside down.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

This was Paris in July 1939. Who recognized the place?

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

Cars at the Vendome column.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

The autoflow flows around the Arc de Triomphe.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

In the same place.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

Advertising for the National Lottery.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

In these cozy cafes, Parisians will sit through the entire occupation. Only, I probably had to drink ersatz coffee instead of natural.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

Flower market.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

At first I thought it was a flea market in the Warsaw Ghetto, but it turned out that it was also a pre-war Paris.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

And this is already a classic - the stands of second-hand booksellers at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It seems they still sell books there.

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

On the Place de la Concorde

The last peaceful summer of pre-war Paris, 1939

Bastille Day parade on July 14. In less than a year, the Germans will be marching on the Champs-Elysees.

Keywords: Europe | Paris | Summer | History | Color photography | 30s

Post News Article

Recent articles

Artist from Japan has created a magical world filled with warmth, kindness and huge beasts
Artist from Japan has created a magical world filled with ...

The world would be a much more interesting, be it huge cats. Mysterious Japanese painter who is know in social networks by alias ...

Surrealism in Photographs
Surrealism in Photographs

Surreal photographs express the designer's imagination, which is "squeezed" into real photographs. Most of the photos below capture ...

The success story of Ida Rosenthal - the woman who gave the world a bra
The success story of Ida Rosenthal - the woman who gave the ...

The story of Ida Rosenthal is a clear example of the fact that anyone can succeed, regardless of who he was born. Thanks to the ...

Related articles

The other side of Istanbul that you probably don't know about
The other side of Istanbul that you probably don't know about

Usually, when thinking about Istanbul, you imagine beautiful mosques, old streets and ships on the Bosphorus. The architect, Yener ...

"A game of observation and imagination": how a street photographer from Spain fights boredom
"A game of observation and imagination": how a street ...

The Instagram of the Spanish photographer Pau Buscató is a vivid example of how unusual a view of the world can be. A young man ...

How Britain's trade with Russia influenced the history of Albion and the introduction of luxury fashion
How Britain's trade with Russia influenced the history of ...

We are used to the fact that all the most advanced and high-quality products come to us from other countries. But this was not ...